"Is the "Jinbiao Tu" a true portrayal of the official architecture of the Yuan Dynasty?" Seeing the painting of Wang Zhenpeng, who is known as the "first person to paint in the Yuan Dynasty", Li Luke, a researcher at the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University, wanted to explore whether the Jin Mingchi in this work was the imagination of the painter or the real existence, and whether the building in the "Jinbiao Tu" conformed to the construction logic of the Yuan Dynasty architecture.
Recently, the academic seminar "Happy to Meet - Three Famous Relics of the Song and Yuan Dynasties" was held in Beijing, and more than 20 experts and scholars discussed the three lots of the Beijing Poly Auction in the autumn of 2021: "Song Imperial Palace Tuoding Wulan Pavilion Scroll - One of you Xiang Lan Tingjia", the Song Ren's "Biography of the Continuing High Monk" and the Yuan Dynasty Wang Zhenpeng's "Jinbiao Map". Among them, the Northern Song Dynasty Jin Mingchi presented in the "Brocade Map" has become the focus of scholars' discussion.
In the 2018 hit drama "Do you know if it should be green fat red skinny", the polo game by Jin Mingchi and the bustling beauty of the capital city are the imagination and restoration of the Northern Song Dynasty by the film and television drama creators.
"In the study of ancient Chinese architectural history, Jin Mingchi has always been a hot issue." Li Luke said that the Jin Ming Pond depicted in the "Brocade Map" is an important case in classical Chinese gardens. Although the wooden structure architecture of the Northern Song Dynasty is the peak of Chinese architectural history, because of its long age, the wooden structure building has long been unrecognizable, and the examples are extremely rare, and the academic community has focused more on the architectural research of the Northern Song Dynasty on the large wooden structure. The literature of the Yuan Dynasty and the boundary paintings of the Yuan Dynasty have become an important reference for scholars to verify ancient architecture.
Jin Mingchi scenic view
In the 10th century AD, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, Tokyo, was famous for its prosperity, and a "Map of the Upper River of the Qingming Dynasty" presents the details of the cityscape at that time and the life of the city for all classes.
To see the prosperity of a city, you can't do without architecture. The garden architecture of the Northern Song Dynasty was very developed, and the Song dynasty Yuan Hao once mentioned that there were more than a dozen gardens at that time, "About one hundred and ten other books that are not famous cannot be remembered." ”
The development of garden architecture in the Northern Song Dynasty was based on the popularity of gardens. From the royal gardens of the imperial court to the private gardens of the officials, nobles and rich merchants, and the gardens of temples and temples, there are many of them. Among all the gardens, Kim Myung-chi was one of the famous "Four Gardens of Tokyo" at that time.
When today's architectural circles study Jin Mingchi, they all take the records of the Song Dynasty Elder Meng Yuan in the "Tokyo Dream Record" as a first-hand document. This book describes the customs and customs of the late Northern Song Dynasty, and there is a special volume in which the location, size, architectural layout and swimming activities of Jinming Pond are written in detail.
Li Luke believes that Elder Meng has not only seen Jin Mingchi with his own eyes, but also has a wealth of experience.
"There is a masonry high platform in the south of the gate opposite the street, and there is a building view of Guangbai Zhangxu, known as Baojin Building, in front of the pond gate, a wide hundred zhang, under the Kan Xian Bridge Water Hall, the car is lucky, watching and riding and shooting a hundred plays here." She read a lot of important information from this text, baojin building was not in Jin Mingchi at that time, but across the street from Jin Mingchi. Standing on the upper floor of Baojin, you can overlook the Xianqiao Water Hall, which is the perspective of the Song Huizong Dengbaojin Tower to watch hundreds of plays.
Jin Mingchi was not originally used to beautify the city, and its original excavation was in the Five Dynasties and Later Zhou Dynasty, and the imperial court mainly used it to train water troops.
In the early literature of the Northern Song Dynasty, there are many records about Song Taizu and Song Taizong inspecting water training in Jinmingchi. At that time, Kim Myung Chi was a closed military base, and outsiders were forbidden to enter.
After the Northern Song Dynasty eliminated the forces of the Ten Kingdoms, the political situation was stable, and the function of Jin Mingchi gradually changed. After a hundred years of repairs, this originally small pond was continuously expanded, chiseled and stacked with mountains, stacked stones for landscaping, and built five buildings on the water, which eventually became the largest and most complete royal water garden in the world at that time.
Jinming Pond at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty was an extremely lively attraction. Every year in March, when the spring flowers bloom, the emperor will always visit Jin Mingchi, climb the Baojin Tower, feast on the courtiers, and watch the dragon boat race performance. The "Jade Sea" once recorded: "At the beginning of March of each year, the Divine Guard and the Tiger Wing Water Army teach the boat and learn to play in the water." ”
The Song Dynasty poet Zheng Wei also described the grand scene of the emperor and the people enjoying themselves together in "You Jin Ming Chi": "The bodi painting bridge moves in the sky, and the tourists on the shore can see the middle line." ”
The Northern Song Dynasty style in the yuan dynasty boundary paintings
Looking closely at Baoli Ben Wang Zhenpeng's "Brocade Map", Li Luke lamented the depth of the painter's realistic skills, "The architectural details in the painting are depicted finely and perfectly, reflecting the popular forming practices and pattern decorations at that time, and it is indeed the best work of the Yuan Dynasty boundary painting works." ”
The literati of the Yuan Dynasty once described the precision and meticulousness of boundary paintings as "thin as mosquito eyelashes, and ghost work". The architecture in the "Brocade Map" is extremely elaborate, from the giant arch bridge, the five halls, the water hall and the fairy bridge, as well as the garden walls, gate towers and archways, it can be seen that the painter pursues the accuracy of architectural structure and decoration, and has a good understanding of garden planning. The world's earliest recorded dock, Oyokyo, is also painted in great detail, like seeing history again after more than 700 years.
The so-called boundary painting, in layman's terms, is to paint with a ruler, paying attention to the precision and orderliness of the picture. This method of painting was very popular during the Song Huizong period, when the entrance examination for students of the painting academy was to take the examination of boundary painting. In the Yuan Dynasty, boundary painting developed into ink line white drawing, more like today's architectural drawings.
When the Yuan Dynasty was established, a large number of civil engineering was built, which gave the boundary painters more objects to depict. From the royal family to the aristocratic class, they both admired and respected the boundary painting painters. The court painter Wang Zhenpeng was highly valued by the emperor, had many opportunities to paint works for the royal family, and was also known as the "first person to paint in the Yuan Dynasty" because of his exquisite technique.
Among the masterpieces of boundary paintings left by Wang Zhenpeng, "Baojin Jingdu Map", "Dragon Pond Racing Map" and "Dragon Boat Map" are hidden in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, "Jin Mingchi Winning The Bid Map" is stored in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and "Dragon Boat Map" is hidden in the Detroit Museum of Art. These works, without exception, are all showing the theme of dragon boat racing.
According to the American scholar Gao Juhan's "Index of Ancient Paintings", there are as many as 7 long scroll paintings on the theme of dragon boat racing in the Yuan Dynasty, and there are more than 10 painting long scrolls, and the painters are Wang Zhenpeng.
Dragon boat racing was very prosperous during the Northern Song Dynasty, but in the Yuan Dynasty, where Wang Zhenpeng lived, this typical Song Dynasty folk activity was explicitly prohibited by the imperial court. In the second year of Song Qinzong Jingkang (1127), the Jin army attacked Beijing, Jin Mingchi was destroyed, and many buildings were destroyed, so how did Wang Zhenpeng draw Jin Mingchi and the dragon boat race?
Scholars speculate that despite the destruction of the building and the banning of the dragon boat race, the painter could still depict the northern Song Dynasty based on the Tokyo Dream. Comparing several works on the theme of "dragon boat racing" painted by Wang Zhenpeng, Li Luke found that although the painter used different perspective painting methods, the garden pattern of Jin Mingchi remained unchanged.
"The Yuan Dynasty royal family led and promoted the development of 'dragon boat racing' theme painting, and Wang Zhenpeng's 'Jinbiao Tu' is an outstanding representative of it." Li Ziru, a researcher at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts' Institute of Advanced Studies in Imagery and History, believes that the superb standard shown in this painting, as well as from the Paiwen, Baojin Lou, the inscription after the volume, and the plutonium seal, can be proved by Wang Zhenpeng's hand. This "Brocade Map" is most likely a "Supreme Book" painted for Emperor Renzong of the Yuan Dynasty when he was crown prince.
The popularity of boundary painting in the Yuan Dynasty is not accidental, and the royal demand for boundary painting is not only out of artistic appreciation. For the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, their degree of Sinicization was not high, and wang Zhenpeng's Northern Song Dynasty architecture and boat designs were like renderings of Northern Song architecture that could be viewed, used and referenced. In his paintings, Yuan rulers and upper nobility can imagine the disappearing Northern Song dynasty royal lifestyle.